It’s tradition at the end of the year to reflect on what’s occurred in the last 360-odd days, and think about ways to do everything 100% better in the upcoming new year.

I’m nothing if not traditional, so I thought I’d take a moment to wallow in the horrifying marketing mistakes I made in 2014.

Although I hope you will find some benefit in reading about my mistakes, this post is mostly to remind me that I can, and will, improve.

Behold: 8 ways I screwed up in 2014 (and how things will be different in 2015).

 

8 Marketing Mistakes I Made This Year

1. I Didn't Have a Plan

My biggest mistake this year was in not having a plan. A lot of my marketing efforts were made up on the fly. Not surprisingly, those efforts weren’t very successful.

Because I didn’t have a set plan, I found myself floundering. I had to scramble to find things to blog about. I sent out email newsletters that got no response because they weren’t really relevant. Many of my posts on social media went ignored.

How 2015 Will Be Different: I bought a planner, baby. Blog posts and email newsletters will be planned far in advance. And I’m going to make sure to have regular meetings with my boss in order to keep myself accountable (deal with it, Irma).

 

2. I Got Discouraged

Content marketing can be overwhelming. There is so much information out there, and it changes really rapidly. It’s tough to keep up with, and it can be really discouraging, especially when it seems like everyone else is doing it so much better than you.

A few times this year, I considered quitting altogether and following my true passion: Binge-watching old TV shows on Netflix. (Is that a job yet?)

How 2015 Will Be Different: There are always going to be people out there who are much better than me at this marketing thing. I’m never going to be Ann Handley or Rand Fishkin (or even Rand’s amazing facial hair). I just need to get over that.

And I need to tune out all the noise and focus on what’s important: our customers’ needs and how I can fulfill those.

 

8 Marketing Mistakes I Made in 2014

 

3. I Focused on Selling, Not Providing

Content marketing is a tricky thing. You want to provide content that is useful and informative to your customer, but your ultimate intention is, of course, selling to them. The thing is, people don’t really want to be sold to, do they?

Too many times this year, I told the customer, “Here’s what I can sell you” instead of “Here is some information I think will really benefit you.”

How 2015 Will Be Different: My job is to provide useful, relevant information, which will ultimately build trust with those who need the services of Buildicus. I need to focus on being helpful, not on selling.

 

4. I Was Inconsistent

Part of building that trust with customers is being consistent: Posting on the blog every Tuesday and Thursday. Sending the weekly email every Wednesday. Posting on Facebook twice a day at the same times. Though they might not consciously realize it, customers expect hearing from me at certain times.

I had every intention of being consistent this year, but I never got there, mostly because I didn’t hold myself accountable. My boss is a very hands-off kind of manager, so it falls to me to kick my own ass when things need to get done.

How 2015 Will Be Different: THE PLANNER. I’m putting a lot of faith in this planner, and in having a marketing plan in place, and in setting and sticking to self-imposed deadlines. (And in me and my ability to stop being an idiot.)

 

 

[caption id=”attachment_4669” align=”aligncenter” width=”589”]Unimpressed Lizard Unimpressed Lizard is unimpressed with my efforts this year.[/caption]

 

5. I Thought Things Would Be Easy

Too many times this year I thought I could just put in a little effort and things would magically fall into place. Sigh. I was so young and naive.

I learned the hard way that things are always more difficult to do than they seem.

An example: I wanted to put together a paid ad campaign that connected Facebook (the ad), Lead Pages (the opt-in page) and Get Response (the automated email series). I learned how to use these tools together via a webinar conducted by a big-time Facebook expert. She made it seem sooo easy.

It wasn’t. It was a bunch of moving pieces that didn’t want to fit together. And it nearly destroyed me, because I let it. Ultimately, I got the pieces to fit, as I should’ve known I would, eventually.

How 2015 Will Be Different: I have to go in expecting things to be difficult, so I don’t completely fall to pieces when things don’t happen the way I want them to right away. Sure it sounds negative, but I find that if I expect things to suck, they usually won’t be as bad as I think.

 

6. I Thought More is Better

This year, I fell into a pretty common marketing trap: thinking more is better. More Twitter followers, more Facebook posts, more newsletters.

What I should’ve realized sooner: Noise is just noise, and it will get tuned out.

How 2015 Will Be Different: Quality over quantity is the goal here. Better blog posts, better engagement, relevant newsletters.

 

7. I Tried to Go It Alone

Though I work in an office with other people, my job is pretty solitary. There isn’t a lot of collaboration with the team.

This year, I thought I could do everything on my own. HUGE mistake.

Although my job doesn’t technically overlap with my co-workers’, it doesn’t mean I don’t need them. There are ways the entire crew can get involved in content marketing.

How 2015 Will Be Different: According to author and social media expert Jay Baer, one of the big trends for 2015 will be employee social engagement. That is, employees pitching in and furthering their company’s brand by leveraging social trust and connections.

My task in the next year will be to engage the rest of the Buildicus team in helping get our name out there.

 

8. I Figured Google+ Was Worth My Time

I really thought Google+ was going to be super beneficial to – just kidding. I hated Google+ from the start.

How 2015 Will Be Different: It won’t be.

 

And there you have it, 8 marketing mistakes I made in 2014. There were plenty more, I’m sure, just as I’m certain I’ll make plenty in 2015.

But that’s the beauty of a new year — the opportunity to get better, do better, do over.

Cheers.